Pinturault and Worley make history, Maze bids alternative farewell

French duo Alexis Pinturault and Tessa Worley claimed historic giant slalom victories on Saturday, while Tina Maze ended her FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup career with an alternative farewell in Maribor.

Pinturault pipped five-time defending overall champion Marcel Hirscher by just 0.04 seconds in front of a huge crowd in Abeldon with another flawless exhibition.

The super-combined champion is now the most successful Frenchman in World Cup history and claiming a third giant slalom victory out of five this season, having surpassed Jean-Claude Killy's tally of 18 wins.

Pinturault was 0.70secs faster that rival Hirscher after a blistering first run of 1:12.91. And, although Hirscher put the pressure on by clocking 1:10.42 in a rapid second descent, the Austrian narrowly missed out.

Philipp Schoerghofer was 1.94secs adrift of Pinturault in third spot. Hirscher holds a huge 268-point overall lead over Pinturault and is 44 points better off than the 25-year-old in the battle for the giant slalom globe.

It was a memorable day for French skiing, as Worley topped the podium in Slovenia to open up an 85-point advantage over Mikaela Shiffrin in the slalom standings.

Worley became the first Frenchwoman to win World Cup 11 giant slalom races to pass Carole Merle's mark after she was quickest in both runs, with Sofia Goggia returning to form by finishing second and Lara Gut third.

Shiffrin now holds a 205-overall advantage over Gut, with Worley a further 80 points back in third after an emotional day for Maze in her homeland.

The two-time Olympic champion stopped during her first run to embrace her partner Andrea Massi and former coach Valerio Ghirardi prior to whipping off her skis and walking over the line at the end of her second to ensure she registered a did not finish in her last World Cup race.